PHILADELPHIA _ Joe Maddon left the visiting dugout at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night, just as the ballpark was starting to turn into a hornets nest. Maddon, the Cubs manager, watched his team stifle the Phillies lineup for the first eight innings, silence the crowd, and appear to cruise towards a win.
But now the bases were loaded for Bryce Harper. The crowd was in a frenzy. Maddon was making a pitching change. And a 7-5 Phillies win _ which felt so unlikely all night _ suddenly felt near.
Harper crushed Derek Holland's sixth pitch for a walk-off grand slam into the second deck in right field. He sprinted around the bases and was crushed by his teammates at home plate. Harper has three homers in two days and five in his last six games. He seems to be heating up.
It was the most unlikely win of the season as the most unlikely week of the season continued.
The Phillies switched their hitting coach on Monday, brought Charlie Manuel back to the dugout, and have won three straight games. They swept a three-game series for the first time in seven weeks. The win powered them into a weekend series against the Padres. The Phillies still have their work cut out for them to make the playoffs. There's still six weeks left.
In the ninth, Brad Miller singled through the infield to drive in Cesar Hernandez, who had reached on an error. Roman Quinn followed with another single to drive in Scott Kingery, who had singled with one out. Then Rhys Hoskins was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Harper.
The Phillies entered the ninth inning 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. They scored no runs against Cubs starter Yu Darvish, but scored seven against the bullpen.
It is no secret that the Phillies will need to ride their offense for the season's final six weeks if they are to reach the playoffs. Nights like Thursday make it plausible.
The rally was enough to recover from Drew Smyly, who allowed five runs in five innings. It was also enough on a night when they were mesmerized by Darvish, who allowed just four hits in seven shutout innings, struck out 10, and walked none. A night after scoring 11 runs, the Phillies had no answer against Darvish. And then the bullpen door opened.
Their best chance at Darvish came in the fifth inning when Adam Haseley was hit by a pitch and Logan Morrison slapped a pinch-hit single through the right-side of the infield. The Phillies had runners on first and second with one out for Hoskins as Harper stood on deck. But Morrison was picked off first base by Cubs catcher Victor Caratini to deflate the rally. Hoskins then popped up to end it.
Hoskins went 0 for 3 as he batted leadoff for the second straight night. Mired in a slump, he has just 16 hits in his last 101 at-bats. The Phillies can live with imperfect nights from their pitching if Hoskins and the rest of the lineup produce.
But for Hoskins, the last four weeks have been a struggle. Gabe Kapler moved him Wednesday to the top of the order and the first baseman had a single and drove in one of the team's 11 runs. Perhaps batting Hoskins leadoff would cure him. A day later, the problems persisted.
He reached base for the first time in the ninth inning when he was hit by a pitch. The struggles he had earlier felt much less significant. Harper was coming to the plate with the bases loaded and the crowd was ready to erupt.
